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By SHERRI GORDON (Published 8/03)
Driving down the freeway singing along to the radio, you reach down to answer your cell phone. In an instant, you unintentionally veer off into the next lane. You yank the steering wheel in an attempt to avoid another car, but instead you lose control and go into a tumble.
When your car finally comes to rest, you're hanging upside down, pinned under the dashboard with a possible neck injury and a broken leg. Several witnesses stop to render aid until the fire department can be deployed. One witness holds your hand, tells you that help in on the way, and to be strong. You desperately fight to stay awake as the pain is almost unbearable.
With a chance that you could go into shock and/or bleed to death, it's critical that rescue workers extract you from the wreckage as carefully and quickly as possible so medical treatment can begin. Your "golden hour" has just begun.
In the late 1970s, the Rescue Industry was very immature. Hydraulic vehicular extrication tools commonly referred to as the "jaws of life," were extremely heavy (more than 70 pounds) and required up to three people to operate. Often, several different types of hydraulic tools, each with their own setup time, would be necessary to extract the victim safely. With setup time often taking up to 15 minutes, "the golden hour" – the first hour after an accident when victims can most easily be saved – was quickly cut by a third by the time rescue teams arrived, got set up, and started their extrication. Medical teams waiting to treat the victims were often forced to wait 30 to 45 minutes before they could begin treatment. This wait seriously threatens a victim's chance of survival, since after the "golden hour," the survival rate for people who are in critical condition and have experienced trauma rapidly diminishes.
In 1980, a conversation between two airline passengers seated next to each other started a change in the rescue industry. One person was a contract headhunter, finding people with specialty skills to fulfill contract design work, and the other was the president of an Illinois manufacturing shop that built underground mining equipment. The headhunter was looking for a hydraulics expert to design a new brand of rescue tool. The company president had his Vice President of Engineering, Mike Amoroso, in mind when he offered the headhunter a business card. A seasoned mechanical engineer, Mike began his extensive engineering career first designing water heaters, then moved on to steel making and steel rolling equipment, then on to enormous underground mining equipment, and later large-caliber ammunitions for the military.
The headhunter's customer wanted Mike to first design a rescue spreader – a tool consisting of pincher-like steel tips used for spreading open or tearing into a vehicle, and a rescue cutter – giant scissors that bite through metal and other vehicle materials.
Mike did some research and, recognizing the need for speed, wondered why one tool couldn't perform both tasks. He made a wooden model and determined that it would work. Mike designed a tool he called the "combo tool," due to the fact that it had combination blades that would perform both spreading and cutting operations. Before showing it to the customer, he had his metal workers make a prototype.
When the customer first saw it, he was delighted, and soon began selling them. The customer's first order was for 300 units, which he quickly sold to various fire departments. Mike's company produced the tools for the customer who marketed them nationwide. It didn't take long for the competitors to replicate his idea and the "combo tool" soon became a standard in the industry and one of the most common vehicular extrication rescue tools used today. Throughout their 20 + years of history, combination rescue tools have been instrumental in saving many thousands of lives.
Mike left the company and started his own business to design and manufacture a complete family of rescue products including his invention, the "combo tool." Last year, after 20 years of running the family business, Mike decided it was time to retire. Instead of selling the company, Mike decided to keep it in the family and convinced his son Michael to take it over.
Michael moved to Texas in 1986 to work at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) for a small engineering subcontractor, Eagle Aerospace. His six years at JSC included rocket design, modifying medical and exercise equipment for the Space Station, and occasional rides on the "vomit comet," NASA's zero-G training aircraft. In 1993 Eagle Aerospace closed their Space Contracting business and moved Michael to a communications arm of the business. Last year, Michael agreed to take over his father's business. He also decided that he would like to handle the marketing for the business in addition to the manufacturing, and started Advanced Rescue Tools, Inc. based here in Clear Lake.
Soon after starting Advanced Rescue Tools, Inc., Michael decided that some industry research was in order. He was already familiar with the methods for using the rescue tools manufactured by his father's business, but he wanted opinions from the rescuers themselves.
Michael contacted a friend who had been a fireman for over 20 years and asked for his advice and a demonstration of their rescue tools, manufactured by a competitor. Like his father before him, Michael realized that there is a lot of time required to set up the equipment before the actual rescue can begin.
The most common rescue tool configuration includes a 100-foot hydraulic hose-reel mounted on the back of the rescue vehicle, with a distribution block at the end. The firemen park the rescue vehicle and unspool enough hydraulic hose to reach the accident. Then they get some 20-foot hose assemblies from the rescue vehicle and take them to the accident. Next, they get the rescue tool from the rescue vehicle and carry it out to the accident. The hose assemblies are then attached to the distribution block and also to the rescue tools before the rescue can begin. One drawback to this system is that the rescue vehicle must be in close proximity to the accident scene. Another is that if the rescue vehicle is being serviced, the rescue system is unusable.
Another common rescue tool configuration includes a gasoline engine-powered pump that must be unloaded and carried to the accident scene. The firemen are also required to unload 20-foot hose assemblies and rescue tools from the truck and carry them to the accident scene. The hose assemblies are then attached to the engine/pump assembly and to the rescue tools. Then the gasoline engine must be started before the rescue can begin. One drawback to this system is the loud noise of the gasoline engine, which can hamper communications between the rescuers. Another is that it can be unsafe around spilled gasoline.
So while thinking of ways to speed up the setup time, Michael invented what he calls the "Crash Cart™."
"The Crash Cart™ is a self-contained rescue system that resides on a cart that can fit into a small compartment of the rescue vehicle." Micheal said. "It is designed to be unloaded from the rescue vehicle by one person, wheeled to the accident, and is pre-connected and ready to begin the rescue."
In addition, his father's "combo tool" which comes with the Crash Cart™ is the most powerful in the industry and has one of the fastest opening and closing times in the industry.
The Crash Cart™ is equipped with a battery that has enough power to completely disassemble 5 cars or more on a charge. And since it is not tied to the rescue vehicle, it can be wheeled inside buildings or even on an elevator. If the rescue vehicle is being serviced, it can be carried in a pickup truck.
All this adds up to an efficient way to save lives. The Crash Cart™ can save from 5 to 10 minutes in a typical rescue, which could seem like an eternity when you are the victim.
"If the victim can get medical treatment earlier during the 'golden hour,'" Micheal said, "it can actually make the difference between going to the hospital and going to the morgue."
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